Your Childhood

Okay, so was thinking about story telling and about this premise of art relaying on a personal connection and stuff like that when I realized something.

Give me a moment I have an important question coming up. This is gonna be some deep stuff in the back of my head or some easy stuff it took me for ever to realize.

Star Wars! I... have not seen Star Wars. Not just the new one, but any of them. (Yes here, take my geek card. I hear I don't have a right to it anymore.)

I am familiar with the premis though, so I began thinking. It doesn't sound special? Why is it so special that half the world is freaking out? Then I realized it.

It wasn't that it was the greatest thing ever. Rather it was simply a cut above the rest. As I understand it. Sci-Fi had sort of a dark time around this era. Star Wars was the first one a general audience could see and enjoy. It was a cut above the rest at the time and as such it hit a lot of people in the feelings.

Because that is such an important part of story telling. Hitting someone in the feels. There have been plenty of movies better than Star Wars since, but to a generation. It will always been "the first."

I then realized, I had my own "first" but it wasn't Star Wars, obviously.

In my case, it was Digimon Adventure 01. I am thinking of how I originally rated a piece of writing as reminding me of Digimon 01. Which is just about the largest compliment I am able to give, even if it may not at first glance sound like it. So I began thinking. I realized. Yeah. 01 is indeed far from perfect. It has plenty of faults to which as an adult I can see for my self. But put it on and I will smile. Because it was the first for me. The first peice of fictional material that was a cut above the rest and captured a piece of my heart.

I mainly find this funny because I recently made a post talking about this and using the simplistic thought process of "in spite of or because of"

And I am sure it may be more clear in other cases but in this case I find myself thinking it was both. I liked it because of what it did different, but it was of course some of those differences that led it to making mistakes. I don't like the mistakes, but enoyed the show in spite of them because the differences the show had to everything else at that age was just amazing to me as a seven year old. Digimon was the first to raise the bar.

My parents divorced when I was about four. Shortly after, my dad got summer custody rights. Each summer, I stayed with him at my grandpa's house. At my grandpa's house, there were lots of books. My mom isn't much of a reader. In my childhood being around books was just a cool norm I internalized around a sense of calm and safety. I watched my dad read a lot and wished to learn to read so I could be like him. He didn't have work most of the time, and I didn't know he was avoiding getting a job. (I didn't know until this year that he chose unwanted family mooching and outright homelessness so he wouldn't have to pay child support to my mother! Interesting dude.) My dad would read whatever free fiction he could find, primarily sci-fi and fantasy. I tried reading Treasure Island and couldn't really keep my attention straight. Grandpa had other very old books I also couldn't read. Eventually I became addicted to the 1970s animated version of The Hobbit. I watched it probably dozens of times, memorizing the lyrics and boasting that I knew what would come next each time. The Hobbit was the beginning of me loving fantasy. Later I got into Goosebumps, because I could actually read them. In my mid-teens I read the Tad Williams epic Memory, Sorrow and Thorn and that sorta became my thing. I was somewhat obsessed with it for a while. But I have realized even up to today that I probably qualify for some attention deficit disorder -type of thing, because I cannot process a significant portion of what I read. Even while writing this, I have opened new tabs to check Facebook or something else multiple times. It impacts my readership which impacts my potential as a writer. Despite this, I have a deep love for words, how they're arranged, how they make me feel when a fictionalized experience becomes some visceral, personal experience of my own. These early experiences around fiction shaped a deep, nostalgic, almost melancholy longing I have to just be in a book all the time. But like I said, my attention span is embarassingly short and I can't quite ever stay in a book. I wish to be more disciplined so I can return to this place of calm and safety associated with books-in-general during my childhood, but it's hard. Wow, blocktext. G'night.

Well, I'm stuck on why you're sure that Star Wars isn't so special when you haven't seen it?

But I'll think about the actual question.

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LOL To be fair, my argument is more that there is no such thing as "so special" and that reaching that title is when a good story connects with the reader in a special way.

I didn't say Star Wars was bad, and I did praise it at points. Star Wars was probably always going to be ruined for me. For one, overhype has me expecting more than I should and well. I don't really like the core concept. Laser weapons, space ships fighters. Psychic powers. Eh. Non of them really hit my yes buttons.

I once saw a clip of somewhat angry swordsman depanding his friend be brought down. The enemy tried to stall. The swordsman politely walks away seemingly to grant the stall and then light lightning draws his sword and cuts a statue in half. He then replies to the man that if is not coming down, then the swordsman would instead come up.

I could watch that on a loop for hours and be happy. Yet I mentally picture the same scene, but replacing his shinning silver Katana sword with a light sword. And I frown. I ... eh. Funny enough cutting something like a statue makes more sense with a light sword. But well it just takes almost all of the fun out of it for me. So a movie that people love for light swords is probably not for me.

So is there a media(book movie, other) that was the first for you? I figured it would be nice to hear all the different titles that hold a special place to someone.

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I have the rare ability to distinguish nostalgia from actual quality- there is nothing from my childhood that holds a permanent place in my heart, not even James Bond, who just this year sold his soul to the feminists.

I am, however, hesitant to revisit the Matrix, for fear it would not live up to its initial glory.

My parents were expatriates, pioneers of employment, and here, worldwide, journeyed for sterling, dollars, all very glamorous stuff with aeroplanes..

Consequently I began in the UK school system, before that first aeroplane, as a child learning about 'Peter and Jane' putting on socks, and stroking the cat.

Then, later I learned Dutch - school stuff, all in Dutch, of course, I can't remember any of that.

A couple of years on I was forced to read American textbooks in an International School - but have only snippets in my mind - vast titles like 'Dinosaurs' maybe? There was a series of five books for children? I have the images but can't track down the titles. Also, learning American writing - was very intricate, almost verging 'Lady Di fat font' - learning to craft these, their enormous sworls and such like, a nation totally total lacking ink economy. Our school [US] magazine had the headline 'Jimmy Carter says 55...' 55 what? I still don't know what, but what was the magazine called, please, anybody?

The only other books to read - overseas, were the foreign language 'easy readers' of all the classics: Huckleberry Finn, Robin Hood, Moonfleet, Ivanhoe. They really were 'great' books - none of the Victorian phraseology to interrupt or hinder story-telling, just Huck, his buddy, and me, of course.

My parents were expatriates, pioneers of employment, and here, worldwide, journeyed for sterling, dollars, all very glamorous stuff with aeroplanes..

Consequently I began in the UK school system, before that first aeroplane, as a child learning about 'Peter and Jane' putting on socks, and stroking the cat.

Then, later I learned Dutch - school stuff, all in Dutch, of course, I can't remember any of that.

A couple of years on I was forced to read American textbooks in an International School - but have only snippets in my mind - vast titles like 'Dinosaurs' maybe? There was a series of five books for children? I have the images but can't track down the titles. Also, learning American writing - was very intricate, almost verging 'Lady Di fat font' - learning to craft these, their enormous sworls and such like, a nation totally total lacking ink economy. Our school [US] magazine had the headline 'Jimmy Carter says 55...' 55 what? I still don't know what, but what was the magazine called, please, anybody?

The only other books to read - overseas, were the foreign language 'easy readers' of all the classics: Huckleberry Finn, Robin Hood, Moonfleet, Ivanhoe. They really were 'great' books - none of the Victorian phraseology to interrupt or hinder story-telling, just Huck, his buddy, and me, of course.

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So saying Huckleberry Finn was one of the firsts to raise the bar for you?

First adult book was 'The Eagle Has Landed.' Then Jaws...later the Harold Robbins excerpts.

I'm thinking about 'raising the bar.' What do you mean? If you mean - moved or improved or...I dunno, I'll think on. The Ragged tRousered Philanthropistsshook intrigued me for many years - but that's a very English book.

First adult book was 'The Eagle Has Landed.' Then Jaws...later the Harold Robbins excerpts.

I'm thinking about 'raising the bar.' What do you mean? If you mean - moved or improved or...I dunno, I'll think on. The Ragged tRousered Philanthropists shook me for many years - but that's a very English book.

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The premise of my thread was saying that there is not truly great pieces of art(book movie painting ext.) That rather great is what we call good works that hit us in a special place often for being the first work of art we say at a higher quality. In a sense what we call great is often just the first good work we see. Because that work raises the bar.

I cited Star wars as being that for many people. And said digimon was the first for me.

The thread was asking what was the first for you? The first time art captured a piece of your heart to which it still has?

The Ancient One was the first book I remember reading for pleasure (and not as a school assignment). I sat in the back of the class, near the wall, and there was one of those rotating display towers full of books. I found The Ancient One in there. It had a beautifully old looking cover, with a huge redwood tree surrounded by ferns. I've always loved nature, so I liked the cover right off the bat. I started to read it, under the table, during class. lol I never paid attention to my teacher. And since I only had that seat for an hour a day, I always looked forward to that class so I could read more of the book.

I ended up buying it in adulthood, though I don't remember where or when. It's always displayed on my "favorites" bookshelf. I don't know if I think the quality is the greatest, or even if the story is the greatest. But at the time, it was the first book I read, and I thought it was amazing. I still read it from time to time because I enjoy it so much.

Our school [US] magazine had the headline 'Jimmy Carter says 55...' 55 what? I still don't know what, but what was the magazine called, please, anybody?

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55 mph (miles per hour). It was the beginning of the gas crisis and America had literally just come off of almost a decade of muscle cars growing increasingly bigger with enormous engines. I don't think the U.K. did the whole "muscle car" thing in the late 60's and early 70's (I could be wrong), but the Aussies certainly played along. Lots of terrific muscle cars from Australia from that era with plenty of bulge in the right spot.

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Film-wise, it was the original ALIEN for me. Saw it in 1979 when I was 9 years old, brand new in theaters. Book-wise.... probably DUNE. Not really from my generation, but once my parents felt it was ok for me to hunt outside the kid's book section, that was the first one and remains the one.

The Ancient One was the first book I remember reading for pleasure (and not as a school assignment). I sat in the back of the class, near the wall, and there was one of those rotating display towers full of books. I found The Ancient One in there. It had a beautifully old looking cover, with a huge redwood tree surrounded by ferns. I've always loved nature, so I liked the cover right off the bat. I started to read it, under the table, during class. lol I never paid attention to my teacher. And since I only had that seat for an hour a day, I always looked forward to that class so I could read more of the book.

I ended up buying it in adulthood, though I don't remember where or when. It's always displayed on my "favorites" bookshelf. I don't know if I think the quality is the greatest, or even if the story is the greatest. But at the time, it was the first book I read, and I thought it was amazing. I still read it from time to time because I enjoy it so much.

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So who was the that book written by? Maybe if I ever get good at this reading thing I will check it out!